G-8 focus shifts to terrorism

Mark SilvaTribune correspondent

On a sunlit terrace of the secluded Gleneagles Hotel where world leaders are huddling, President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair met for a quiet morning coffee well before a series of bombs exploded in London.

They had come to this pastoral Scottish setting to discuss aid to impoverished regions of Africa and the curtailing of pollution that could be changing the world's climate. But suddenly the focus of this summit for the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations shifted to the terrorism that has rocked the U.S., Europe and Asia alike.

"The contrast between what we've seen on the TV screens here, what's taken place in London and what's taking place here, is incredibly vivid to me," Bush said as he walked up a long and winding pebble path in the manicured gardens of Gleneagles shortly after the explosions in London. Behind him, a helicopter lifted off, returning Blair to London.

"The war on terror goes on," Bush said, voicing a common "resolve of all the leaders in the room" at this assembly, where G-8 leaders meet in private settings with only their closest aides present.

The first communique of the summit was supposed to focus on global warming, which Blair has attempted to make a priority issue along with African aid.

Instead, the leaders of the G-8--the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan--were joined by leaders of China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, who were also attending the summit, in issuing a different sort of statement Thursday:

"We condemn utterly these barbaric attacks," Blair said, reading the joint communique. "All of our countries have suffered from the impact of terrorism. . . . We are united in our resolve to confront and defeat this terrorism that is not an attack on one nation but on all nations and on civilized people everywhere."

"These terrorists will not succeed," the leaders vowed, intent on proceeding with two days of working sessions, concluding Friday.

Bush learned of the London bombings as he entered the first working session here at 10 a.m. Blair told him of the bombs, according to White House spokesman Scott McClellan.

Bush summoned his national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, and dispatched him to coordinate a government alert in the United States. Chief of Staff Andrew Card phoned Vice President Dick Cheney at Jackson Hole, Wyo., and National Intelligence Director John Negroponte in Washington.

Hadley returned with word that the terrorism alert would be elevated to orange on U.S. transit lines.

Bush went to a hotel suite where the White House had established secure video conferencing, standard practice on presidential trips.

He held a 10-minute session with homeland and national security advisers. He "wanted to make sure that appropriate agencies were acting and taking any necessary precautions," McClellan said.

Bush remained at the summit, as leaders agreed to press forward with their agenda of African aid and global warming.

Faryar Shirzad, deputy national security adviser and U.S. representative to the G-8, is among the few who join presidents and prime ministers in the intimate sessions at these summits.

"What I saw was a renewed sense of determination on the part of the leaders to proceed with their work," Shirzad said later of the morning meetings where Bush, Blair and others were confronting a new and deadly terrorist assault. "What I saw was a group of leaders who had a renewed sense of purpose in terms of advancing the common good, in the light of what happened."